University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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A Hiralih nf Haluahlr Ihuilhing Material--ihrirk sinh Gllag. HE clay found in Mississippi is similar in many respects to that of ancient Babylonia, which was the first to be employed for structural purposes in the form of brick and other clay wares. Brick manufacturing has grown and developed into a necessary and profit- able industry in Mississippi, where the amount of clay is unlimited, and fuel is cheap and abundant. Most Mississippi clay contains all properties necessary for successful brick and tile manufacturing, though in different degrees in different sections. The most valuable physical properties of clay are plasticity, strength, and refractoriness. Alumina is the most refactory substance found in clays, and also furnishes bonding material for holding together the inert particles, which enables the clay to be fashioned into the desired form. The amount of alum- ina in Mississippi clays ranges from a few per cent to 41 per cent. which puts them in a class with the best clays. The tensile strength of ordinary brick varies from 40 to 400 pounds per square inch. Tests of some of Mississippi's clays show that tensile strength ranges as high as 800 pounds per square inch. The percentage of impurities in Mississippi clays is small. The common brick clays of Mississippi contribute largely to the industrial develop- ment of the State, and their importance will become greater year by year, as the valuable timber grows scarce. In many of the counties brick have been manufactured successfully for many years, and in most of the large towns up-to-date plants have been erected to meet the growing demands for a substantial building material. As the State is undergoing rapid industrial development, and as it is dependent largely upon brick for building material of a more permanent class, we may expect that the brick industry will be greatly developed in the near future. Clays suitable for brick and tile purposes are scattered broadcast over the State, the northeastern section probably having the most generous deposits, though Warren and Pike Counties have more manufacturing plants than any other counties taken separately. Splendid brick materials are found in the Loess and Delta regions: buckshot clay is very good for brick and drain tile, and brick of Lauderdale County are said to be extremely hard, and to approach vitriiied paving brick. Pressed brick are manufactured in many plants, and are among the highest grades of the manufactured product. Some of the clay burns white and leaves white specks on the surface, presenting a very attractive appearance in the way of a fancy brick. Rough brick, however, are the most commonly manufactured. Mississippi clay is also used in the making of tile, its porosity adding greatly to its value in this form. Both rough tile and glazed tile, which are the best grades, are used for draining purposes, and rough hollow tile is used in constructing buildings where plaster and brick are also used. There are eighty-seven brick manufacturing companies in the State of Mississippi, fifteen brick and tile companies, and one drain tile company, embracing about sixty-seven counties, according to a 1908 bulletin, which facts show that already the industry has been recognized as profitable. In Noxubee County especially, has the industry proved profitable, not only to the im- mediate community, but to other sections of the State. The prairie lands of the county are being drained by tile made in the county. Noxubee County being a great dairy section of the State, silos are indispensable, and many of them are made out of tile manufactured in the local plant. This plant also furnishes a supply of brick, and rough and glazed tile for both building and draining purposes in other sections of the State. To be able to get a good quality of brick and tile within the State, not only encourages the development of the indus- try, but is a great advantage in the saving of exhorbitant freight rates. 15

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A ilivuelutinn tn the Hninitiatvh---lgurtlanh Glmnvnt HE South is advancing more rapidly along many lines than any other section of the United States. But in manufacturing this section is not keeping pace, especially in the cement industry, although the South offers the most lucrative opportunities to the cement manufacturer. In no section are there greater possibilities in cement than in Mis- sissippi--the section which has no cement plant, but which has an inexhaustible supply of raw materials and uses an immense amount of the finished product. Mississippi is a very progressive state. It has many developing towns and communi- ties which annually use thousands of tons of cement. Many miles of road and pavement are built every year, and the progressive farmers are beginning to use cement in building silos. It has become one of the most useful constituents for building purposes where strength, economy, and durability are required. To quote Dr. Crider: It is used alone, or as a re- inforcement in the construction of bridges, business and dwelling houses, aqueducts, sewers, pavements, large foundation walls, and dikes such as the Galveston wall, docks, wharves and levee work, besides in many minor ways, such as in making telegraph poles, fence posts, monuments, and in various other lines of construction work. Most of the raw materials for Portland cement manufacture are located in the eastern and northeastern, south central, and western sections of the State. The principal deposits in the eastern and northeastern sections are found in the counties which include what is known as the Black Prairie Belt. In the south central section the main deposits are found within a radius of fifteen miles from Jackson. In the western section the largest deposits of raw materials are found along the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. According to analyses of manufacturers, the principal constituents which enter into the manufacture of Portland cement are silica, alumina, lime, and iron oxide. By a compari- son of the following tables it is easy to see that the raw materials from the principal deposits of Mississippi compare very favorably with the raw materials actually used by manufacturers in other sections of this country and England: Analyses of six samples taken from different sections of the State, made by Dr. Logan, Dr. Muckenfuss, and others: Silica Alumina I 9n Lime Volatile .Ma9n?S' Sulphur Water oxide matter lum oxide Starkville 25.27 4.81 10.35 32.85 25.60 .84 .02 .40 ViCkSbl1I'g' 14.86 5.46 5.46 42.04 32.84 1.37 .63 .51 TiSh0mlHg'O 48.8 3.43 3.13 39.47 5.06 3.19 2 23 .40 TLIDCIO 22.76 4.56 6.-I6 34.41 28.25 .05 .43 2.10 Byram 26.42 3.25 5.20 27.77 26.00 14.4 2.00 3.00 COI'1I1th 25.40 6.88 9.62 20.37 23.70 .58 .64 Analyses of natural cement rock used in American and European plants. QE. C. Eckel, analyst.l : Rosedale N. Y. 10.90 3.40 2.38 29.57 37.90 1-1.04 0.451 nd. Ill-Jfiance, 0. 42 00 7 00 7.10 9.91 11.18 5.91 nd. 14,00 Copley, Pa. 18.34 7.40 7.49 37.60 31.06 1.38 Hd. 3.0-1 Utica., Ill 17.01 3.35 2.39 32.85 34.12 8.15 1.Nl Milwaukee, WIS. 17.00 4.25 1.25 24.64 32.46 1 1.00 nd, England 18.00 6.60 3.70 30.64 29.-L6 .10 nd. nd. There are four localities in Mississippi where Portland cement could be advantag- eously manufactured. In Tishomingo County near Bear Creek is a favorable location for a plant because of the amount of raw material convenient, and of the good facilities odered by the Tennessee River and the Southern Railway for cheap transportation. West Point and vicinity offer the best advantage of any locality in the State. The Alabama coal fields are only about one hundred miles away, and there is an inexhaustible supply of raw material near by. In bulletin Number 1 of the Mississippi State Geological Survey Dr. Crider says: There is a bed of limestone 800 to 1000 feet thick, underlying Noxubee, Clay, Lee, eastern Oktibbeha, and Chickasaw Counties, and an inexhaustible supply of clay just west of the limestone area. There is asufficient amount of raw material to supply the Portland cement trade of the entire United States for an indefinite length of time. Jackson offers good advantages as it is a good distributing point of natural deposits within easy reach, which can be used in the manufacture of Portland cement. Vicksburg has the best natural advantage to offer, because of the large deposits of raw material, which are near, and the cheap transportation and numerous railways which connect it with other points of the United States. 14

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lgnttrrg Qllagz HE clay working, or ceramic, industry of the United States is of immense economic importance though passed lightly over by the casual observer. Dr. E. N. Lowe, of the Mississippi Geological Survey, states that the clay products of our country exceed in value by nearly 330,000,000 the total amount of the gold and silver mined in the United States, including Alaska, and by 360,000,000 the iron ore products. Mississippi has a supply of clays of good quality, but her people have been slow to work them up at home. Ohio and New Jersey draw liberally on Mississippi clay for their extensive manufacturing. In 1907 Mississippi's pottery production was only 321,121, giving the State twenty-ninth rank, while Ohio's pottery products were worth 313,533,190 The total value of Mississippi's clay products for that year was estimated at 3846,529, of this arnount 318,200is crediuad to drani the, 320,769 to face or front brick, 3865 to red earthenware, 320,256 to stoneware, and the remainder to common brick. The total clay pro- ducts of Ohio for that period were valued at 330, 533,199 According to the State Geologists, the two main formations containing the best working pottery clays are the Tuscaloosa and the Wilcox. The Tuscaloosa formation cor- responds to the Tennessee Hills fpage 115 occurring in six counties in the northeastern part of the State. These superior clays are being used for pottery making near Whitney in Itawamba County, where jugs, jars, crocks, and churns are turned out, about 5,000 gallons annually being produced in one plant, 7,000 to 8,000 in another, while a third produces about 2,000 gallons. A pottery was formerly operated at Whitney producing stoneware and tomb- stones but is closed down at present. Most of the Tuscaloosa clays are of highest quality and can be used for pottery, but only three plants are working. The Wilcox formation corresponds closely to the Northern Lignitic Plateau tpage 11l embracing the counties in the north central part of the State. Some of these clays are being used for pottery making in Marshall, Webster, and Lauderdale Counties. At present there is only one steam pottery in operation within this section and that is at Holly Springs- The Holly Springs Stoneware Company has opened up more than one pit near the town and they manufacture jugs, jars, crocks, churns, pitchers, bowls, and flower pots. They use both a white and a brown glaze, making a very attractive vessel by using the white glaze for the body of the ware and the brown for the rim. This plant has by far the largest capacity of any in the State, turning out 500,000 gallons per year. The Allison Stoneware Company, which has recently been enlarged to a two-kiln plant, is also located at Holly Springs and manufactures a general line of stoneware. The clay in Winston County makes a good quality of stoneware and is used in the Stewart Pottery for making glazed ware. This Company turns out about four thousand gallons per year. The clays from Lauderdale County have been used for stoneware for nearly half a century. A hand pottery was established in Meridian forty years ago and of late years has been changed into a steam pottery, producing ornamental terra cotta, stoneware, and decorative ware. At present most of the Lauderdale clay is shipped to a pottery plant at Cuba.AMbama. In South Mississippi there was, three years ago, a noted art pottery at Biloxi, oper- ated by Mr. George G. Ohr. He obtained his clay near the town and manufactured very thin glazed vases, rose bowls, ornamental jars, and all kinds of unglazed art ware. He used a wide variety of shapes and decorated his articles in an artistic manner. The clay took the different colored paints splendidly and the result was pleasing. His shop had hundreds of out-of-state visitors during the coast season and they learned that Mississippi's pottery clays in the hands of an artist formed a contribution worth while to the natural resources of the nation. 16